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Computer Restarting Itself

My computer has been restarting itself and I think I may have a virus it only does it so often I have done virus scans and I have a friewall and all that but the person who sent me the firewall and anti virus is the person I think may have given me the virus. My question is how do I get my computer to stop restarting itself and what is a good free antivirus that I can get to replace the one I have?

A good antivirus is AVG Antivirus ( check my sig for the download link)Also recommended is AVG AntiSpyware ( also in my sig)Please add Spybot S & D and Adaware. As far as firewalls there are a few good ones. Check the freeware link. Recommended are ZoneAlarm and kerio both free. As far as your existing problem let us first see what you have installed on your computer in order to undertake further steps

What do you have on computer safety installed? (I mean antispyware/virus/firewall)

Do not install another firewall or antivirus when you still have old ones installed that might give conflicts

The symptoms you describe could be viral related or they could be due to hardware or overheating problems caused by a failed processor fan, bad memory (RAM), failing power supply, underpowered power supply, CPU overheating, motherboard, video card, drivers, etc.

If your not finding any malware then its sounds like the latter problem. When was the last time you cleaned the inside of your computer? Open your machine and make sure the fans are working and the heat sink on the processor is not blocked with dust or debris. Remove the CPU's cooling unit and clean the fins on the heat sink that sits under the CPU with a can of compressed air. Dust restricts the airflow and prevents proper cooling. You can also remove the cards, RAM modules, clean the contacts and reseat them. Check your connections and fans to make sure they are working properly and monitor the temperature. If the computer is overheating, it usually begins to restart on a more regular basis. See "Cleaning the Interior of your PC"."Illustrated How to Replace an AGP Video Card" (you can also use it as a guide to clean & reseat).

In Windows XP, the default setting is for the computer to reboot automatically when a fatal error occurs. You should be able to see the error by looking in the Event Log. An alternative is to turn off the automatic reboot so you can actually see the error code when it happens. This is a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

To change the recovery settings and disable automatic rebooting, do this: 1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties > Advanced tab.2. Click the Advanced tab.3. Under "Startup and Recovery" click on the "Settings" button and go to "System failure".4. Make sure "Write an event to the system log" is checkedand that "Automatically restart" is UNchecked.5. Click "OK" and reboot.

Doing this won't cure your problem but instead of restarting you will get a blue diagnostic screen with information displayed that will allow you to better trace your problem.

Download and run Motherboard Monitor 5. If Motherboard Monitor's seems to be reporting high temperatures for your CPU check to see what your max CPU temp is from here.

There are suggestions for troubleshooting power supply, video card, CPU, RAM, MB and hard drivehere and here.